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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Good for you, but it's a bit older as a divison, if it is. posted by Timbo in Oz on August 6, 2012 at 16:54:25:
Thanks for the thoughtful and thought-provoking reply.
Before the advent of recorded/broadcast music, a much larger percentage of the population played instruments and read music. Remember that JP Sousa saw the advent of recorded music as a serious threat to general musical literacy, anticipating (correctly) that it would lead to fewer and fewer people learning to play instruments.
In England, around the time of Shakespeare, it was considered an essential part of a gentleman's education (as essential as speaking at least one foreign language) to be able to play the lute or the recorder.
Up through the 19th century, nearly every middle class household in Europe and America owned a piano, and girls especially were expected to be able to play at least a few pieces competently. It was considered a social grace, for entertaining family and guests. Among those who might not be able to afford a piano, "parlor guitar" served the same function.
Among the working classes, everybody at least knew someone who played the fiddle (or some other affordable folk instrument) and could entertain at get-togethers. This was especially the case in music-loving countries like Ireland and Italy, and approximately every third Spaniard knew a few tunes on the guitar.
So the "liebharber" who patronized the development of European "classical" music were, for the most part, nobles and merchants who probably had at least some musical training, and some technical appreciation of what they heard. Many of the aristocratic patrons of composers like Haydn and Beethoven were, in fact, serious amateur players who commissioned works for themselves to play.
Of course, there is the fact that the vast majority of music ever composed was intended NOT for serious "listening," but as background or accompaniment for other social activities -- worship, dancing, dining, dramatic entertainments, whatever.
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Follow Ups
- RE: Good for you, but it's a bit older as a divison, if it is. - caspian@peak.org 12:06:57 08/07/12 (0)
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